THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH

BIBLE CLASS STYLE LESSONS.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation
for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of
God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The
just shall live by faith.”

All articles are written
using the NKJV, unless
otherwise noted! All articles are written by David Hicks, unless specified
otherwise.

Witnesses to Me

To The End of the Earth!

- A Study
In Acts-

Chapter Five –
First Church Discipline, 2nd Arrest

ACTS 5:22-32:

Once again, the Apostles of our Lord will find themselves arrested for
preaching Jesus as the Christ and His resurrection. Not only did the subject
(Jesus as the Christ and His resurrection) anger the Sadducees and High
Priest, but they have continued to preach Jesus as the Christ, even after an
edict from the court that has forbidden it. This will categorically
infuriate them! However, in our last lesson, an angel of the Lord freed the
Apostles by Divine power and instructed them to go out and continue to
teach.

In this lesson, we will now witness the events leading up to the Apostles
re-appearing before the council and begin to look into the body of that
exchange.

Text#1:

Acts 5:22-25
“But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they
returned and reported,
23saying,
“Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside
before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!”
24
Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests
heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be.
25
So one came and told them, saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are
standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

In this
brief portion of our text, Luke records the discovery that the arrested
Apostles are no longer in prison. Luke records the words of the officers,
finding the prison secure, which demonstrates that the Apostles did not
break out.

As the
chief priests wondered concerning these events; they were told that these
men were in fact, in the temple doing what the angel said they should do,
and the council had forbidden them to do;
“Teaching the People!”

Text #2:

Acts 5:26-28
“Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence,
for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.
27And when
they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high
priest asked them,
28
saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And
look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this
Man’s blood on us!””

Without
Violence: Luke
records a very different method used to bring them before the counsel, than
that which was used to put them in prison the previous day;
“Laid their hands on the Apostles
and put them in the common prison” Vs. 18.
Here there is a demonstrated concern for the people’s esteem of the Apostles
and the miraculous works they had been performing along with the word they
preached.

Your
Doctrine: The
Apostles being brought now before the counsel are reminded by the high
priest that they had been warned
“not to teach in this name”. The high priest would go on to state that
their doctrine, which Jerusalem was now filled with, was meant to put Jesus’
blood on them.

There is
every reason to know that although these rulers of the people were probably
not among those listening to the words of the Apostles; reports of others
had come to the ears of these rulers (and they obviously understood the
message). Such teaching as; “Him,
being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death” –
Acts 2:23; “But you denied the Holy One
and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15
and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we
are witnesses.” – Acts 3:14-15.

Doctrine:
This word is used in many places in the instruction of the New Testament. It
is translated from two different Greek words
“Didache”, and
“Didaskalia”. In both cases, the
words describe ‘teaching’. In both cases the words can be used in the
passive – what is taught; or the active – that act of teaching.

The leaders of the people point out for us that the Apostles (your) doctrine
was something that they did not consider legitimate – which was recognized
by Peter the first time he faced the counsel, note:

Acts 4:11
“This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become
the chief cornerstone.’”

The Apostles; however, did not water down the commanded teaching they were
sent because it found disfavor with the rulers, but in the face of civil
punishment stood fast and taught the truth of the Gospel of Jesus as the
Christ!

An important lesson for today, wouldn’t you agree?

Text #3:

Acts 5:29
“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to
obey God rather than men.”

For the
sake of comparison, here is the first response of Peter and John to the
counsel:

Acts 4:19
“But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the
sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.”

Once again,
we are given a demonstration of the words of Paul, note:

Romans 13:3
“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be
unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from
the same.”

They are
not a terror to good works, because our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1
Corinthians 15:58); however, it does not mean that we may not
face civil punishment. The Apostles, with the courage they have been given
and demonstrating their willingness to stand for the truth, will be beaten (vs.40).
Yet, they would rejoice for being counted worthy to suffer shame for His
name! They did what was right regardless of environment!

Philippians 1:27
“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I
come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand
fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the
gospel”

Philippians 2:12-16
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling;
13for it is
God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
14
Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15that you
may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the
midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as
lights in the world,
16holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of
Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

What is our
civil duty, you may ask? Live and teach the truth even in the face of
governments that may not allow it;
always!

Text #4:

Acts 5:30-32
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a
tree.
31Him
God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give
repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32And
we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy
Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.””

As Peter
and the Apostles spoke to the counsel, they gave an abbreviated version of
the message they had been preaching in the temple. Some points of interest
are:

It wasn’t the Apostles that put the Lord’s blood on them, but God
Himself!

There attempts to dismiss Jesus, only found Jesus exalted to the right
hand of God (remember:
Psalms 2:1-2).

Both of these first two points establishes the resurrection, in addition
to the eye witness accounts.

He has become the prophesied Saving Servant of God that
Isaiah prophesied was to come – see:
Isaiah 42:6, 49:6.

The term Prince is one that Peter had introduced in the second recorded
sermon (3:19).
“Prince of life” and
“Prince and Savior” simply
complement each other to the extent of the life Jesus came to give to
man. The term “Prince” comes
from the Greek word meaning ‘Exalted and clothed with authority’;
‘Ruler’. “Savior” is a
participle and explains a present tense activity.

The Holy Spirit was introduced as a witness to
all of this through the miracles that gave the Apostles great favor with
the people, and caused fear and concern for those who sent to bring them
to the counsel. In addition, it was the Spirit through the doctrine
(teaching) of the Apostles that also testified of all of this to those
who obeyed God, through that message (the Gospel); see:
Acts 2:42 – “Apostles doctrine”.